Business operations typically involve such activities as the purchasing and sale of goods, storing and shipping of the goods, billing for the goods, and related activities. Activities of this kind, and planning and organization related to the activities may be referred to as “business logistics” or simply “logistics.” Software used in facilitating logistics operations may accordingly be referred as “logistics software.”
A disadvantage of known logistics software is that it may be too compartmentalized. That is, each step in a logistical process may have its own specialized associated software. A simple example of steps of a logistical process are the steps of receiving a customer order, scheduling delivery of the order, and updating inventory. Each of these steps might be performed by a different person, using different logistics software, in a different location. More specifically, suppose a customer contacts a seller of goods and places an order to purchase a quantity of goods. To meet the customer's order, the seller or his employee might typically start by using a logistics program, for example in a front office, to electronically generate a document known as a “sales order,” recording such things as the customer's name, and the type and number of goods ordered. This might be followed by electronically generating, using a different logistics program, another document known as a “delivery order.” The delivery order might, for example, be generated by a shipping clerk, and might include such information as a delivery location and time, a shipper, and so on. Then, when the goods are finally shipped, still another document, known as a “goods issue,” could be generated by a person in a warehouse, using still another different logistics program. The goods issue might record, for example, how many items were shipped and when so that the seller's inventory records could be suitably updated.
Generating the necessary documentation at each step of the above example (receive customer order, schedule delivery, update inventory) may require detailed knowledge of the associated program on the part of at least three different actors. That is, each person generating a document must know what values are acceptable to the program, what functions to invoke in what order, and so on. Moreover, the foregoing is a very simple example, involving only three phases or steps in a logistical process; many other kinds of logistical operations are possible. For example, the customer may generate a parallel set of documents to record ordering the goods, receiving the goods, and to update its inventory. Many, more complex variations and more extended sequences of steps are possible. Accordingly, generating, tracking and managing the various documents associated with a logistical process can present serious challenges.
A further consideration is that there exist business persons or entities known as “traders” or “trading companies.” The primary activity of a trader or trading company is to provide logistical services to buyers and sellers of various commodities, as opposed to manufacturing, or in some other fashion (e.g., harvesting some natural resource) directly providing a commodity. An example is a trader in oil. An oil trader or trading company might have to control all the steps on both the supply and demand sides of a logistical process. For example, in response to a request from a customer for a quantity of oil, the trader or trading company might have to find a seller, place a purchase order, receive shipment of the oil, update inventory to reflect the receipt, generate a sales order, schedule delivery, and update inventory to reflect the delivery. It may be appreciated in view of the earlier discussion that acquiring and maintaining the necessary expertise in all the different software that could be associated with each of these steps, and tracking and managing the corresponding documents, could be a formidable task for the trader or trading company.
In view of the foregoing considerations, improvements in logistics software are needed to simplify its use.